Epix (TV network)
Epix (pronounced "epics" and stylized as ePix or EPIX) is a premium entertainment network headquartered in New York City. It is owned by Studio 3 Partners, LLC, which is a joint venture between Viacom's subdivision Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lions Gate Entertainment. The Epix television channel features a list of theatrically released motion pictures, original Documentaries, music and comedy specials and series. Launched in October 2009, Epix is the newest of the major premium TV channels in the United States. Epix (as well as it's three multiplex channels, depending on the carriage of any of the latter services) are sold by pay television and providers either as premium services or as part of a la carte digital movie tiers, As of March 2015, it is also available for Sling TV subscribers along with SundanceTV as part of the "Hollywood Extra" add-on pack. Background Paramount Pictures has been involved in the pay television business since the 1950's. in the 1950's and 1960's, Paramount owned Telemeter, an ambitious but expensive theater television system which used closed circuits over which customers purchased broadcasts by dropping coins in a box. In April 1980, Paramount (then owned by Gulf+Western), MCA/Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox partnered with Getty Oil to launch an attempt at a pay service jointly owned by the four film studios called Premiere, a cable television service that gave exclusive first-run rights to the studios' newer feature films (airing nine months before they would be shown on other premium services), along with films being cherry-picked from other studios without any exclusivity, Displeased, this led Time-Life, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment and Viacom/TelePrompTer, (then owners of HBO, The Movie Channel and Showtime) to file an antitrust lawsuit against the U.S. Justice Department in 1980. The Justice Department issued an injunction blocking Premiere's planned January 1, 1981 launch, deeming the venture an illegal boycott of the other pay services, which could be hurt through possible price fixing of film titles. Following the scrapping of the venture after the government ruling and a subsequent failed attempt by Paramount and Universal to acquire a portion of Warner-Amex's existing but struggling pay television service, The Movie Channel, Paramount signed an exclusive distribution agreement with another exclusive premium channel, Showtime - which already maintained a distribution deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1983. Both of Showtime's tentures with Paramount ended in acrimony. In the spring of 1989, Paramount struck an exclusive licensing agreement with HBO; subsequently that May, Paramount filed a lawsuit against Showtime Networks, It's parent Viacom and, the corporate parent of both entities, National Amusements over Showtime's alleged refusal to pay $88 million in fees for five films (that underperformed at the box office in their theatrical release) to reduce the minimum liability for it's 75-film package from the studio). Showtime regained first-run pay cable rights to Paramount films through a seven-year distribution deal signed in May 1995 (following Viacom's merger with Paramount Pictures' parent Paramount Communications the year prior), which gave it rights to all of the studio's film releases from 1997 onward starting in January 1998, following the expiration of Paramount's contract with HBO. By 2002, Lions Gate Entertainment joined Paramount and MGM as Showtime's major film suppliers. Paramount's distribution contract with Showtime expired in January 2008, three years after the original Viacom corporate structure was split into two different companies, the new Viacom and CBS Corporation (which retained Showtime Networks in the split), while MGM's and Lions Gate's contracts expired on that same year. History The formation of Epix was announced on April 21, 2008, after negotiations with Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lions Gate Entertainment with Showtime to renew their existing film output deals broke down, the results of disagreements on the amount of revenue the studios wanted Showtime to compensate them for running their film input on the channel. In December 2008, the three studios - which named their jointly owned holding company for the channel, Studio 3 Partners - selected the name "Epix" for their premium channel and on-demand service. MTV Networks was tapped to provide operational support for the channel, including marketing and affiliate services. The channel's initial film output involved Paramount films released after 2008, MGM (and subsidiary United Artists) and Lionsgate releases from 2009 onward, as well as content from the individual studios' film libraries. Though Epix was first announced by Studio 3 Partners as strictly a premium service, it eventually began to seek distribution as a hybrid premium/digital basic channel (similar to the distribution method of Encore) with its programming being presented uncut and commerical-free. The channel also reportedly sought a monthly license fee of $1 to $1.50 per subscriber from prospective providers. On July 28, 2009, Epix reached it's carriage agreement to Verizon FiOs, three major pay television providers - cable providers Comcast and Cablevision, and satellite provider DirecTV - formally announced in August 2009, that it would not carry Epix. DirecTV said regarding it's decision not to carry the channel: "We think there are enough channels out there already, we don't see the value of adding another movie channel." On August 28, 2009, Epix offered a free preview to Verizon FiOs subscribers, showing select films that the channel offered upon its formal debut. This included the premium cable premieres of Iron Man (2008), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and Cloverfield (2008). During this preview, Epix added between five and seven movie selections every three days from the libraries of its three major studio backers. On September 25, 2009, the channel announced plans for an expanded online video on demand service, The "Epix MegaPlex", that began offering a minimum of 3,000 film titles beginning in the summer of 2010, while the basic Epix online VOD service would have about 200 titles upon its October 2010 launch. Epix's online offering includes over 3,000 titles for streaming, available to all subscribers through the network's apps and Epix.com; as a result, Epix offers a wider library of movies for streaming than the other premium networks combined. The network continues to expand its VOD selection through cable, satellite and telco subscribers but does not include more than 150 to 200 titles per month due to the bandwidth constraints of these systems. Within weeks of its October 2009 launch, Epix signed an exclusive first-run content agreement with two additional studios: a deal with Samuel Goldwyn Films to broadcast 20 movies, and a deal to carry 22 feature films from independent film studio, Roadside Attractions The Epix television service officially launched at 8:00 p.m. eastern time on October 30, 2009 on Verizon FiOs systems, becoming the first U.S. premium cable channel to debut since Liberty Media and Tele-Communications, Inc. launched Starz 15 years earlier on February 1, 1994. the first program that aired on the channel was Iron Man, followed by the concert special Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour: Live from Bueno Aires. The then-single channel service was available to Verizon FiOs subscribers for free for the channel's debut weekend with a monthly subscription to the channel costing $9.99 per month (significantly less than other premium channels, which normally range in price from $12.99 to $17.99 per month). Epix also provided customers (including those that were not Verizon FiOs subscribers), free previews of the online service using invite codes to access the website's film content that were given on a first come, first served basis each weekend through the end of November 2009. Channels * EPIX * EPIX2 * EPIX Hits * EPIX Drive-In Category:American television networks Category:2009 Category:Non-Fanon Category:Viacom Category:Television Channels Category:Paramount Pictures Category:MGM Category:Lionsgate Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Category:Joint ventures Category:English-language television stations in the United States Category:Movie Channels